Christmas Card Boxes

Our 3rd grader made Christmas card boxes at school and was so excited to teach us how it's done. They turned out so cute and are such a great way to recycle and share the love that I thought I'd share how to make them here. Thanks to his teacher who makes them with her class every year. We used some old cards to make boxes then filled them with candy and handed them out to workers at stores this week with a cheery "Merry Christmas" to you. A fun and inexpensive way to share Jesus' love this season.

Here is how it's done. First, separate the front and back. Take a ruler or straight edge and draw a line (the same width) on all four sides. For the top of the box draw the lines on the back of the FRONT of the card. For the bottom of the box draw the lines on the front or inside of the BACK half of the card. Cut along the lines only on the ends as shown.

Fold the corners and sides along the lines and tape on the inside and corners on the ends. 

Back or bottom of box

Top of box

Finished box about the size of a pocket pack of tissues.

Happy 14th

Happy 14th Anniversary

to the one my heart desires!

West Texas

We recently went to Texas to visit family and had a great trip. The first two days were gorgeous days of 70+ degree weather. We got to go visit my husband's 91 year old grandmother and our son interviewed her about what it was like growing up in West Texas. He was surprised to hear she didn't have electricity or plumbing or a phone until she was a teenager. We ran through the cotton fields and even got to go see a real cotton gin and learned how they separate the seeds from the cotton and turn it into bales. We saw the gigantic wind turbines and the seemingly endless blue sky.

Then it turned icy...very icy! But we still got to have fun playing with our cousins and watching Hallmark movies. It was a real Christmas miracle that our flight made it out Saturday so we could be back for church on Sunday.

17 degrees and about 4 inches of ice on the interstate all the way to Dallas! It took us 3 hours!
That was some skilled driving Papaw Racecar!

A Great Day at Grandfather Mountain

We took a break from unpacking Saturday and took our friends Ronnie & Phil up on an invitation to go hiking at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC. The brochure says, "5,946 feet up on a mountain, you enter a different world" and it's so true. Its past peak fall leaf color season up there but there was still enough rusty red color on the trees to make the views spectacular! 

We took the easy less than a mile hike up to the swinging bridge - not the one with the rock climbing and ladders. It was pretty far up for us southerners and very rocky as you can see from the photos. The kids loved it and even spotted some ice around the puddles at the top. 

The mile high swinging bridge really was swinging in the wind, and because the boys were jumping up and down on it to make it wobble more. It's not bad as long as you don't look down. Whoa, dizzy! I even went across it thinking it led to the trail back down the mountain. Not the case! It doesn't really lead to anywhere because they closed the lookout past the bridge because people were getting too close to the edge and falling off the cliff. So you have to walk back across the bridge and back down the trail the way you came.

Even my boys were getting a little too close to the edge for my liking. They liked feeling tall up on the mountain and seeing over all the mountains so far away.

My Rock Climbers

Always going opposite directions

There's a little Animal Habitat where you can go view the local wildlife where they have animals that have been injured and cared for. The bears were fun to see up close. There's also a gift shop, museum with movie about the mountain, and a restaurant and fudge shop. We took a picnic and ate at one of the picnic tables near the beginning of the trail. It was a cold (about 45-55 degrees F) but beautiful day! 

We love the mountains! My take on Grandfather Mountain is that it is a great place for families to visit if you plan to spend the day. It can be pricey at $18 per adult and $8 kids ages 4-12 but that pays for everything you do once inside the gates (except buying fudge and stuff). There is a lot to do there and you will want to take your time so you can enjoy the hiking trails and animals and such. If you live in the area and like to hike its probably worthwhile to buy and annual pass for $170 which includes admission for a carload of people for one year. Be sure to check the weather before you go, some attractions close when there is snow and ice. Dress in layers and wear good hiking shoes and THICK SOCKS! I was breaking in a new pair of boots when we went and my socks were too thin and made my ankles sore by the end of the day. 

All in all  it was a wonderful day. Thank you Ronnie & Phil for taking us on this great adventure! We love the mountains of North Carolina. It is amazing to see Gods awesome creation here. 

Upward Ends & Fall Begins...

This past weekend we played our final flag football game of the season and celebrated at the end of season celebration. Stanley juggled and shared the gospel and the kids were happy to get trophies. These were definitely participation trophies as our team was 0-8 this season, but whose keeping score really. It was our first attempt at any kind of football.

The next day was the Fall Festival and Trunk n' Treat at the Church. It was great fun and I was so grateful to just be mom at this event and get to walk around with my own kids and enjoy the games, food, hayride, puppet show, and candy. They had a great time. A BIG thank you to all the special volunteers whole pulled this whole event off. Awesome job!

A bat...

and an Army Chaplain.

Played all the games at least twice...

Milked a cow...

Made balloon animals with Dad...

Won the cake walk THREE Times!!!